Eating Outdoors - Fresh From the Garden

What a joy it is to be able to walk outdoors and pick fresh fruit from your own garden.

Growing your own fruit and vegetables is a great way to get kids outdoors and connecting with nature. Not only do they get to eat the freshest, most delicious organic food
going, introducing them to healthy eating habits, but they get to learn
where food comes from, how it grows and they get to spend lots of time
outdoors, tending to their little peach tree, potted herbs, potatoes in
a tub, or even a tomato plant growing in a small pot.

Peaches Galore……

I was gifted two peach trees from the kids three years ago. This year we have an amazing crop. Samuel and Jasmine are in charge of
watering the peach trees, pruning them back and adding stakes if needed.

Peaches are high in beta carotene, which provides cancer-fighting properties and the ability to inhabit the growth of cancerous tumors. A
recent laboratory study also identified phenolic acids in peaches
aschemopreventive dietary compounds because of their ability to inhabit
growth of estrogen-independent breast cancer cells. Lutein and
zeaxanthin, also help protect against age-related macular degeneration.
Fibre, vitamin C, and iron are more reasons to indulge in peaches this
season. Heidi Hoff -Alive.com

You need to be a member of COMMUNITY FORUM to add comments!

Thanks Suz and John for your comments. I feel very fortunate to be able to head outdoors and pick fresh fruit from my garden. I think I would have loved your treasure hunts John-I remember picking wild berries-mostly gooseberries. It's wonderful to see so many individuals and schools investing time in vegetable gardens and yes Suz, fabulous to see farmers markets growing in popularity too-yippee!!

Hi Marghanita! I'll echo what John said. What a stunning, inspiring post. The pictures are beyond tantalizing. The recipe looks great. I'm a huge peach fan anyway and appreciate the reminder to pick and eat them while they're here. Thanks for linking the idea to Eat Outdoors Day, as well. What better outdoor treat than fresh summer fruit! In my area blackberries and plums are plentiful on public land. Still other friends invite us to pick from their fruit trees. And, of course, the popularity of home gardens and farmer's markets in many parts of the world allow access to wonderful fresh-picked fruit.

Thanks, too, John, for your memories of fruit growing in the Sacramento Valley. I think there's still some to be had there (and lovely farms, of course) though I know much of the rich agricultural land was lost to development. Thanks for the reminder to get out there now, to be in nature and to enjoy its bounty.

Thanks John for your lovely comment. What delicious treasure hunts you must have had!!! How sad to hear the playing grounds, orchards and beautiful green spaces bulldozed over for yet more homes and business's. My childhood play spaces are now big executive homes with the tiniest of gardens. It breaks my heart- if only they had left some of the large Chestnut trees and Silver Birches for children to climb and even a small patch of woodland for wildlife and children to roam free............

Marghanita, what wonderful pictures. I wish I could just reach out into my computer to pick those peaches. My childhood in Sacramento was filled with picking fruit.....which usually belonged to someone else but no one cared. Peaches, apricots, and apples from the trees, berries from the vine, and melons on the ground. We were on a constant treasure hunt and felt like we found the mother lode in the rich agriculture land of the Sacramento valley. Now, it is all homes, businesses, and asphalt. Thanks so much for stirring those memories. Parents, get your kids outside to pick the low hanging fruit. It is good for them in so many ways. After eating the fruit, go let them play in the mud.